The time has come to turn in the flip flops and get out a jacket. The rain is falling and there are leaves on the ground here in the beautiful northwest. The wildflowers have faded, to be replaced by bouquets of sharpened pencils. The school year has begun and many are using books and products purchased at Exodus. Yes, thanks to you all, we had a crazy, busy, and profitable summer. Every month broke records and we hope your purchases are serving you well!
Much as we love making money, we heave a collective sigh of relief when the craziness of summer is replaced with the quiet of the "off-season" so we can work on store projects and website developments.
Repricing & Clearancing...
We had the most amazing influx of cool used books ever this summer and our shelves are loaded. So we are going through the entire store, shelf by shelf, repricing and clearancing books that have been here too long or simply don't fit our vision statement. As a result our clearance section is full to bursting with many good finds at great prices. Check it out!
Website Developments...
We are excited to announce that ExodusBooks "Version 7" is in the works! Seven, biblically, is a number of completion or perfection, and while this new version won't be perfect, it will at last incorporate all the tools we've been working on building since day one. Look for these new features and more in the spring of 2012:
One feature that is already available is our new affiliate program. That's right, if you refer business our way, you can get paid! This page offers more information on how to do it, but it's quite simple to do. Watch for this logo throughout the site.
New Articles, Reviews, and Artwork:
We are so proud of the creative efforts of Caleb and Hadley who have exercised their talent for writing to fill our website with helpful, thorough, well thought out reviews of curriculum, literature, home school reference, picture books, and more. Together, they have written nearly 400 reviews in 2011 alone! We have also enlisted the aid of our pastor-friend Jeff Harlow, to write and revise articles from our "Books for Edification" category. A nearly complete list of those articles can be found here. Jeff is currently looking for work, pastoral or otherwise, and we'd love to pass on contact information if you are looking to hire someone with his expertise.
On the home front...
Home life was equally busy this summer. Eli and Amanda were proud to add #4 to their little tribe: Stephen Latimer Lionheart was born on Sunday, July 24 in the wee hours of the morning on his sister's second birthday. He's healthy and growing and with all the smiling and cooing he does, we think he has a great future ahead of him as a stand-up comedian. Watch out, church camp talent night! You can read about why we chose his name here.
There are a LOT more of you out there who are writing book reviews. We want to encourage you—if you post book reviews on Goodreads or Amazon, on your blogs or wherever!—won't you consider posting them on Exodusbooks too? It's really easy to do, and you can win prizes! Everyone who posts reviews through December 31st has chances to win monthly drawings. And the grand prize of $800 will be awarded in January—that's 2 airline tickets, or 2 Ipads, or 8 Kindle Touch, or a load of books, or. . . The more you enter, the more chances you have!
JUNE WINNERS (52 total reviews)
Drawing #1 (Random) - $15 prize: Chris H. of Beaverton
Drawing #2 (Most reviews) - $25 prize: AlbanyAloe of South Africa (37 reviews!)
Drawing #3 (Best review) - $25 prize: Sincerelyornot reviewed:
JULY WINNERS (38 total reviews)
Drawing #1 (Random) - $15 prize: Sincerelyornot
Drawing #2 (Most reviews) - $25 prize: HappyHomemaker of Oregon (22 reviews!)
Drawing #3 (Best review) - $25 prize: Amanda Evans of Oregon* reviewed:
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
AUGUST WINNERS (15 total reviews)
Drawing #1 (Random) - $15 prize: Dana Roberts of Duluth, GA
Drawing #2 (Most reviews) - $25 prize: Sincerelyornot (6 reviews)
Drawing #3 (Best review) - $25 prize: Miss Pickwickian of OR reviewed:
Radical Together
SEPTEMBER WINNERS (39 total reviews)
Drawing #1 (Random) - $15 prize: Amy Martucci
Drawing #2 (Most reviews) - $25 prize: HappyHomemaker of Oregon (31 reviews!)
Drawing #3 (Best review) - $25 prize: Kim of Oregon reviewed:
Mystery of History Vol. II
* Yes, Amanda is Eli's wife, but she doesn't get paid or solicited for reviews and won this fairly. She will not be eligible for the grand prize!